Miami Herald Re PCH

[PaReader]

Interesting article for the Oceania and Regent fans

 

http://tablet.olivesoftware.com/olive/tablet/MiamiHerald/SharedArticle.aspx?href=TMH%2F2012%2F12%2F17&id=Ar48E0

[spook1]

Interesting article for the Oceania and Regent fans

 

http://tablet.olivesoftware.com/olive/tablet/MiamiHerald/SharedArticle.aspx?href=TMH%2F2012%2F12%2F17&id=Ar48E0

 

Very well written...informative...an excellent read...head and shulders above the NY Times piece previously posted. This is a travel agent's selling tool.

[LHT28]

Nice article

 

I can just see FDR getting someone luggage for them then telling them who he really is ;)

 

Lyn

[PaReader]

I think the most interesting line in the article is this one :

 

" Del Rio said the possibility of the company going public exists if Apollo wants to monetize its investment — but he doesn’t know when it would happen."

 

Private equity firms don't hang on to an investment forever. If Regent has given them a nice return and the probability of a big gain in an IPO, it may be sayonara Regent.

[hondorner]

It's my personal belief that an IPO of Prestige Cruise Holdings, as the holding company for both Regent AND Oceania, is much more likely than a spin off of either cruise line alone. If there is any change in the line up, I'd find it more likely they would acquire yet another cruise line in a different price point rather than split the company.

 

The "other two" publicly owned cruise operations referred to by FDR are Royal Caribbean, which also owns Celebrity and Azamara, and Carnival, which owns Carnival, Costa, Princess, P & O, Holland America and Seabourn, and probably a couple more I can't remember. In my opinion, when FDR talks about a possible IPO, he's referring to another multiple cruise line operation, not a breakup of Oceania and Regent.

 

The very fact that the operations are being streamlined and consolidating back office operations in order to create more efficiency (and return on investment) flies in the face of predictions of a separation of the Regent and Oceania. Additionally, a synergism between the staffs of the two lines has become increasingly important in exchanging the best of each to the other.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I just loved reading this article. Thank you for sharing it! I am so excited we're sailing on the Riviera on January 3rd. We've been cruising since 1982 and have experienced so many lines (some long gone) over the years, most recently Celebrity and HAL. While they try to keep their price points low, I've felt that service and food had declined significantly.

 

So after our last cruise on Solstice I vowed I might never board another ship. That was January 2012. But then an Oceania 2 for 1 cruise brochure landed in my mailbox and here we are just 2 weeks from what promises to be a whole new experience for us.

 

I am SO impressed by FDR. The other day I had read the thread he offered to pick up the family looking for a time filler in Miami. Wow ... that says about both the man and the company.

 

I've dieted for 3 months to prepare for the extraordinary food. Looks like that was a very good idea!:)

[Hambagahle]

EXcellent article and I think I am finally convinced that FDR does not plan to merge the two lines!!

[spook1]

EXcellent article and I think I am finally convinced that FDR does not plan to merge the two lines!!

 

In my opinion CCL has the best template for success as a public company. When they bought HAL they left the footprint unchanged then preceded to acquire Seabourn, Costa, Princess, and Cunard with identical strategy Thus their fleet covers all market aspects and pocetbooks. And they seem content to leave the super-sized floating cities to RCI and NCL Even QM2 at roughly 153,000 tons carries only about 2,600 passengers. Royal Princess will the the largest in the fleet but still a far cry from RCI's Oasis Class and zip lines.

I'm sure none of this is lost on FDR

[JimandStan]

In my opinion CCL has the best template for success as a public company. When they bought HAL they left the footprint unchanged then preceded to acquire Seabourn, Costa, Princess, and Cunard with identical strategy Thus their fleet covers all market aspects and pocetbooks. And they seem content to leave the super-sized floating cities to RCI and NCL Even QM2 at roughly 153,000 tons carries only about 2,600 passengers. Royal Princess will the the largest in the fleet but still a far cry from RCI's Oasis Class and zip lines.

I'm sure none of this is lost on FDR

 

It would be more accurate to say that Carnival acquired HAL, Costa, Cunard, et al, and then SAID that they would leave their "footprints unchanged" while their accountants and bean counters systematically pillaged them of every quality that made them special.

 

Cunard had 150 years of tradition to undue, so they are still something of a quality brand, but HAL and Costa have been ground down to a fine powder.

Then again, what more can one expect when five day sailings are occasionally offered from $350?

[spook1]

It would be more accurate to say that Carnival acquired HAL, Costa, Cunard, et al, and then SAID that they would leave their "footprints unchanged" while their accountants and bean counters systematically pillaged them of every quality that made them special.

 

Cunard had 150 years of tradition to undue, so they are still something of a quality brand, but HAL and Costa have been ground down to a fine powder.

Then again, what more can one expect when five day sailings are occasionally offered from $350?

What don't you understand about my first three words?

[JimandStan]

What don't you understand about my first three words?

 

Ok....in MY OPINION, your opinion is misinformed :p

[writer100]

In my opinion CCL has the best template for success as a public company. When they bought HAL they left the footprint unchanged then preceded to acquire Seabourn, Costa, Princess, and Cunard with identical strategy Thus their fleet covers all market aspects and pocetbooks. And they seem content to leave the super-sized floating cities to RCI and NCL Even QM2 at roughly 153,000 tons carries only about 2,600 passengers. Royal Princess will the the largest in the fleet but still a far cry from RCI's Oasis Class and zip lines.

I'm sure none of this is lost on FDR

As an occasional Seabourn cruiser looking forward to our first O cruise in January, you might be interested in the complaints and changes that are apparent (at least to some) on SB. That forum is filled with culinary outrage. In the wake of the departed Charlie Palmer who coordinated on-board dining with some personality, it now appears that every SB ship has the same menus. That's regardless of where the ship is sailing, or the special talents of the on board chefs. Many see this (with appropriate hand-wringing) as a natural consequence of the backroom merger of HAL and SB operations. People who are loyal cruisers and pay for a premium experience are exquisitely sensitive to a change in the "product." Which is what seems to be happening at Seabourn.I note that the brouhaha over the decline in the dining rooms has replaced arguments over the definition of Formal Optional, a heading which historically inspired some memorable acidity. ("Yes, I imagine you just might be comfortable wearing denim in the evening.") The "hrumph," while not written, did rather echo.

[JimandStan]

The "hrumph," while not written, did rather echo.

 

Well written, sir!